Air strikes continue to pound Gaza, as Palestinians in the hundreds are been killed high level Israeli officials have labeled the offensive an “all-out war”, while from Beirut to Cairo major protests have swept across the Middle East and cities internationally in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Around the world a protest movement in opposition to Israeli apartheid is quickly growing and in Montreal we are calling on you to join the movement in solidarity with Gaza.

It is estimated that over 350 Palestinians have been killed in the latest Israeli offensive, the majority civilians, while local hospitals in Gaza are unable to cope with additional casualties or the hundreds who have been critically wounded in the Israeli bombardment.

Protesters in Montreal will also gather at the Egyptian Consulate to deliver a letter to Egyptian President Mubarak denouncing the Egyptian government’s collusion with Israeli authorities in maintaining a complete closure on Gaza throughout the past year. As Israel bombards Gaza the Egyptian government refuses to open the Gaza border crossing into Egypt to allow for humanitarian aid to enter the besieged Gaza Strip.

According to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, Israeli strikes on Gaza were launched in order “to cause maximum casualties in the climax of daily activities … [explaining] the high number of victims killed or wounded in a few minutes,” during a military attack that is one of the bloodiest since 1948.

As protests internationally call for an immediate ceasefire and an end to Israel’s ongoing military siege on the Gaza Strip, Israel continues to ignore international appeals for calm continuing the assault with support from the U.S. and active complicity from the Conservative government in Canada.

In recent years both the governments in Quebec and Canada have heightened bilateral relations with Israel increasing bilateral economic, military and political links. This fall the Liberal government of Jean Charest inked a bilateral trade deal with Israel, standing in stark contrast to the growing international calls for an economic boycott of the Israeli government in light of ongoing Israeli war crimes in Palestine.

Over the past two years the Gaza Strip has been undergoing the daily violence of a wide-ranging humanitarian catastrophe triggered by severely reduced access to energy, food, and medicines. In effect, Gaza is the world’s largest open air prison.

At this moment, we can only reaffirm our commitment in the strongest possible terms to continue mobilizing friends and allies in other progressive social movements to respond to the call by over 170 Palestinian civil society organizations for a comprehensive campaign of boycott, sanctions and divestment (BDS).

Join us on the streets in Montreal in solidarity with the Palestinian people of Gaza and to call for an end to Israeli apartheid.

SPHR is a non-profit, student-based organization that advocates on a strong social justice platform to uphold the rights of the Palestinian people in the face of human rights violations and all forms of racism, discrimination, misinformation and misrepresentation. Through awareness raising, advocacy work, non-violent direct actions, solidarity building, and the promotion of Palestinian identity, culture and history, SPHR works to support and protect Palestinian human rights both locally and internationally.

Tadamon! (Arabic for “solidarity”), is a Montreal-based collective which works in solidarity with struggles for self-determination, equality and justice in the ‘Middle East’ and in diaspora communities in Montreal and beyond. Tadamon! ongoing political campaigns operating in Canada, including the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israeli apartheid state. Tadamon! is a working group of QPIRG-Concordia and QPIRG-McGill.

IRFAN-Canada will hold a fundraising for the needy people in Gaza, please join the fundraising for Gaza.
The event will take place in Centre Culturel Laurentien (Near Al Rawdah Mosque) : 12265 Laurentien Blvd, St-Laurent, QC H4K 1N5
Time : Wednesday 31 Dec 2008 at 7 pm
If you can’t be present you can donate before and after the event by:
– On line donation at http://www.irfan.ca
– Calling 514-287-3307 we will take your donation by phone
– Visiting Montreal office
– Making your cheque to (IRFAN-Canada)
For any other information please contact 514-287-3307
Please diffuse this e-mail to your friends.